The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has recently seen a string of indictments from a grand jury report relating to the seemingly endless sex abuse scandal. To be sure, it is a sad time for the Catholic Church in Philadelphia leaving many Catholics confused and saddened.
But there are some who see the Church’s problems as an opportunity. One church just outside Philadelphia seems to be taking advantage of this issue for their own gain in a pretty creepy manner. The Philadelphia Daily News highlights that a “reformed Catholic church” is using the sex abuse crisis to their advantage by running advertisements saying you should drop that old Catholic Church and come to their NEW AND IMPROVED “CATHOLIC” CHURCH because they don’t have any sex abuse!!
Seriously. That’s really what they’re saying.
Of course the media sees it as something akin to the Second Coming -that is if they believed in the first coming. Philadelphia Daily News reports:
I wanted to write about a provocative ad campaign launched this week by an independent church in Blue Bell, Montgomery County, called St. Miriam. It’s an Antioch-rite Catholic Church, different from Roman-rite ones in that its priests can be male or female, gay or straight. Celibacy is not required, and marriage is allowed.
St. Miriam’s ordained pastor, Father Jim St. George, founded the congregation three years ago, out of his own pocket.
He refers to his 180-member church as a “reformed” Catholic house of worship. His pithy ads, appearing three days a week in Montgomery County newspapers, make clear what “reformed” means.
“How could you say ‘no’ to your little girl if she wanted to become a priest?” reads one ad. “Could you really say that when God made us in His own image and likeness He forgot about women?”
Another ad notes that “being a good priest and a good family man are not incompatible things.”
And one ad trumpets, “Our Catholic Church has never had a sex abuse scandal!”
Ick. Capitalizing on the sex abuse scandal is more than a little creepy.
And doesn’t it just make you think of an airline that might advertise something like, “We’re just like the other airlines, except we never crash.” My first thought would be that I’m not getting on that airline until it crashes.
I mean, seriously, if this church is going to guarantee there won’t be any of that particular sin why not guarantee all the others too? What, I can’t get a no thieving guarantee? I’m even willing to play it a little loose on the whole coveting thy neighbor’s wife if you know what I mean if I can get a hard guarantee on thieving. How ‘bout it?
Look, if there’s anything we’ve all learned is that sexual abuse is a human problem, not just a Catholic problem. Sin is a human problem, not just a Catholic problem although you’d never get that from the media.
I’m still waiting for this church’s push for Muslim congregants when they advertise on Al Jazeera, “We’re just like Islam, but without all those messy beheadings!!!” I might be waiting a while on that one, huh?
Unfortunately, this church can’t come with a “no heresy” guarantee.
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this fake church…so dogma and ‘small t tradition’ are the same things- nope- STOP EQUATING ALLOWING MARRIED MEN TO BE ORDAINED with all that evil, unnatural stuff. thank you. that is all.
remnantofremnant.blogspot.com
“How could you say ‘no’ to your little girl if she wanted to become a priest?”
Easy. NO. There. Sorry Bernadette and little girl on the way.
“Could you really say that when God made us in His own image and likeness He forgot about women?”
You know these dissenters always talk about how Jesus was this rabble rousing anti-Establishment dude who just wasn’t into playing by the rules of society? Funny how he chose only men to be his Apostles. Must have forgotten about the women.
What was exchange between Jesus his Mother at “the Wedding Feast at Cana”? John2:4-5 (NAB):
4: (And) Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.”
5: His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Ok, Blessed Mother… I will.
God gave woman to man as a helper…“It is not good that man be alone.” Man acknowledged the gift, “This one at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.” Eve was created from Adam’s rib… from his chest, to be near his heart and loved, from beneath his arm to be protected by him and from his core to be his equal. Eve was not created from Adam’s foot so that he would stand on or be “above” her, nor from his head so that she would be above him. Adam trusted Eve and ate of the “forbidden fruit” when he should have protected her. This broke Man and Woman’s relationship. Jesus restored it.. we just need to “spit out the apple”.
Jesus established the Apostles as the leaders. He gave them the authority for forgiveness of sin… and established the Last Supper as their charge.. “Do this in memory of me.”
To woman, Jesus showed mercy and restoration… The woman caught in adultery.. “Go and sin no more.” a great message to men, too. The woman who anointed his feet with oil.. or Martha’s sister, “She has chosen the better….” and the woman who “touched the hem of his garment”.
Following “the fall” women have retained God’s blessing as precious and sacred because it is only through their “yes” that new souls can enter the world…. until women reject this amazing role and CALL by God…
May God continue to bless all his people… and bring all souls to repentance.
No, it doesn’t make me think of an airline. It makes me think of the millions of lapsed Catholics who were repelled by their Catholic upbringing precisely because of the practices referred to in those advertised questions.
I read once that if lapsed Catholics were a religion, they would be the second largest religion in America. It makes me think that there just might be a church in my own city which encompasses everything that was good in the Catholic Church and eliminates all the deviance, misogyny and general obsession with sex.
Ick. Having endless child sex scandals is creepy. Eliminating them and advertising that fact are not. That’s exactly what the Roman Catholic Church should do but it’s too arrogant and deviant to figure that out. I can imagine that the idea of a good and clean Catholic Church must be quite threatening to those who have poured their hearts into the deviant one.
@ Sara:
“It makes me think of the millions of lapsed Catholics who were repelled by their Catholic upbringing precisely because of the practices referred to in those advertised questions. “
So what you are saying is that instead of believing in the Truths professed by the Catholic (universal) Church, you are allowing the sins of man to turn you away from the Truth of Christ, and making excuses for others like you who have fallen away?
Is the Catholic Church perfect? NO, it is not. Is the theology? Yes. It came directly from Christ, no the reverend Father whos or whatsit down the street.
You allow faulty messengers to negate the message. Regardless of the truth and veracity of the message. How sad.
And I find it rather sad that you judge those who believe in ALL of the teachings of Christ and the Early Church and the Fathers of the Church for the last 2000 years as loving deviance…. Maybe you should look to your plank before talking about splinters…. ALL humans sin. ALL humand err. Catholic or not. Christian or not.
SarajTX2,
Want to know why there is so much sin in the Catholic Church? Because she exists for sinners. The Church is a Church for sinners. If all her members were saints, there would be no need for a Church in the first place. We don’t set a “good Christian” barrier in front of sinners and keep them out, or at least off our rosters when the statisticians come a-knocking. The Catholic Church doesn’t only count the “good ones,” the active members, does not disavow her fallen members. She embraces the sinner, because the sinner is why she exists. Only the outright, formal rejection of Christ removes a person from the Church, and even then she will welcome the apostate back. This is why we see such statistics about non-practicing Catholics and Catholics who have left the Church, because, quite frankly, our standards for inclusion are so low.
“an independent church in Blue Bell, Montgomery County, called St. Miriam [...]: ‘Our Catholic [sic] Church has never had a sex abuse scandal!’ “
I have seen adverts in the local Philly papers for that church. I have seen its website (and probably had to quarantine my browser afterwards).
With abuse meaning towards the Faith, that church *is* a sex abuse scandal.
Wow, last I knew, there wasn’t a Catholic saint by the name of Miriam.
Also, from a beloved sermon I heard, remember that the Catholic church is the only church who’s founder’s tomb is empty!
To Priest’s Wife - I agree with you. It annoys me when they put married priests into the “dysfunctional” column. It also annoys me when the Vatican IGNORES all the Bible verses calling for married priests, and they take verses out of context to justify celibacy. A Catholic priest can adopt a child (or even children) but he cannot have a wife, because the wife would take too much of his time and money. Go figure.
How anyone with a brain can disregard 1100 years of universal Church Tradition is also beyond me. But they do. The Bible? Just forget it. Universal Church Tradition? Lie about it - just rewrite history. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Catholic pew people will read ANYTHING but the Bible-they’ll study the TV guide, and think it’s inspiring. But God’s Word? Boring. As a result, Catholic pew people are easy to fool.
Earth to the Vatican: Honor Scripture. End mandatory celibacy. Any priest, bishop, or pope needs to be able to marry at any time in his life. Not all pew people are clueless.
Lastly, NO WOMEN PRIESTS. That would be against Scripture and it was never in universal Church Traditon.
Paul Zummo is worried about a correct answer to his daughter who wants to become a priest. Another daughter may ask why should not I change my husband every five years or why my brother and I cant have sex. If the parents believe in Jesus Christ and his Church, correct answers are available. If the parents do not have faith in the Catholic Church and full of doubts about its precepts, the answer will be ” Yes you are free to do as you wish ” Let us pray for increasing our faith in Jesus and strength to avoid ways of sins now propagated by anti christian corners
Cradle Catholic:
You comments belie a false understanding of Tradition. It has NEVER been in the Church’s Tradition that an ordained man be allowed to get married. It has, however, been in the Church’s Tradition for married men to get ordained. Likewise, there is no evidence that any married man has ever been ordained a bishop (as for Peter, there is no evidence that his wife was alive or with him when he served as Bishop). St. Gregory Nanzianzen the Elder separated from his wife (who entered into the religious life) and THEN was ordained a bishop, as an example.
In addition, numerous Church fathers from the 3rd Century on push for mandatory celibacy as keeping with Tradition, because of the prohibition of intercourse when serving at the altar, which is a very, very ancient tradition.
The priesthood and religious life are not career choices. One must be called before one can become. And anyone who becomes without the call is indeed a sitting duck for, or an instrument of, Satan.
Aaron- why was it John the Baptist’s father was fulfilling his priestly duties, and during that time, the angel told him he was going to FATHER a son? Are you saying John the Baptist was also conceived, without his father and his mother having had sex?
Why the prohibition on having sex for a NEW TESTAMENT priest? Or are we Catholics still living in the Old Testament? Are we like the Jews, still wandering in the desert? Even they aren’t still there.
Cradle Catholic
John the Baptists father would have abstained from sexual relations while he was serving as a priest.
When his term ended he could resume relations with his wife.
This was the practice in the Jewish priesthood.
Let’s get to the what I think is the real issue,,,We can talk of Cradle Catholics, Cafeteria Catholics, Catholics of Convenience and Recovering catholics. Pastor Jim is a Catholic - however he is not a Catholic Priest— and what I refer to as A “Cliff Notes Catholic Priest”—His histories of whatever church he affiliates himself today Antioch Rite,,, Antioch Catholic Apostolic Rite, Liberal Catholic, Old Catholic, Reformed catholic (with or without the Apostolic thrown in for good measure), or the innuendo hw as somehow attached to the Eastern or Orthodox Rite. Pastor Jim is everything to everyone.
I do not think pastor Jim should have had his contract renewed because he is gay. He misrepresented himself,,,, then took out strong anti-catholic ads in local papers, explained incorrectly the differences between him and the Catholic church, then was greeted with open arms in a once National Prize Winning Paper as everything to everyone and better than the Catholic Priests he said he was. He was asking for the attention he is receiving right now. —-
Well, this church may not have any history of sexual abuse, but there is disturbing news about St. George’s past. From the blog for “First Things” come these questiones, posed to the Daily News repaorter who championed his cause two months ago:
Thomas Q says: Since Philly.com won’t post my comments about this story, I was wondering whether Ms. P [the Daily News reporter] will answer a couple of questions I have about her involvement with Jim St. George:
1. When did you find out that he is a convicted felon?
2. When did you find out that he was fired by Albert Einstein for impersonating a Roman Catholic priest?
3. When did you find out that he was fired by Lehigh Valley Hospital for impersonating a Roman Catholic priest?
4. When did you find out that your column about St. George “concelebrating” the Cassidy Mass with the “permission” of Rigali was predicated on a complete and utter lie?
5. When did you find out that Jim St. George stole over a million dollars from people who invested in his casket business?
6. When did you find out that he was dishonorably discharged from the Navy?
7. Ask him about why he was expelled from the Episcopal seminary (Virginia Theological). It involves forgery….Or did you know that back story already? It’s quite something…
8. Do you know about all of his bankruptcies?
9. What is it like to be played by a 21st century version of a snake oil salesman?
You see ... the reason he “settled” with CHC is that he didn’t want to answer questions about these things…for good reason.
By all means, Matthew ... lets call the pastor to account for all this. What IS the so-called “Old Catholic” church putting in collars these days!
@Geoffrey Summerill
I tihnk you may be missing a solid point here, and I thought I should point it out. St George is not, nor was he ever ordained a Catholic Priest in the Sacrament of Holy Holy Orders, so what exactly are you referring to when you say “What IS the so-called “Old Catholic” church putting in collars these days!”
Matthew’s article states that this man refers to himself and his parish as “reformed” Catholics precisely because he is not in communion with the Catholic church and his views/beliefs are quite antithetical to church teachings…..
I hope that clears up a misunderstanding. Certainly, men have slipped through the cracks who should never have been priests in the first place, this guy just happens to not be one of them…..
@ Clare@battlementsofrubies— In those days, a priest served only a very limited period of time. If they were expected to NEVER have sex with their wives, the Levite line would have ended. There was NO celibacy mandated for any of them - in fact, Jewish males were not even considered “men” unless they were married, as a rule.
The problem with the RCC is that we have one foot in the Old Testament, and one foot in the New Testament, and which is determined upon what gives the Vatican and the clerical elite the most power and control. The RCC is most definitely a top-down institution. The top is not Jesus, the top is the pope and his bevy of “princes”, our cardinals.
Any way one looks at that, from the perspective of the New Testament, and the doctrine taught by Paul in his 13 New Testament letters, it’s wrong. Of course, St. Paul and all his teaching is ignored by the Vatican and by Catholic pew people. So what they don’t know will not hurt them in *life*. But since this life is NOT all there is, and we all have ETERNAL life, it most definitely WILL HURT THEM in the long run. Very sad.
Our pew people and our Magesterium likes to wear opticals with rose-colored lens, seeing every clergyman as “holy”, and every bishop as “The Good Shepherd”. Only when the real (double) lives are exposed do pew people cry, “Let’s forgive!” The real message is: Let’s get on with business as usual. It’s 100% selfish. It is not God-honoring. I object.
The practice of getting young boys to go into the minor seminary (high school) was the rule up until Vatican II - so within the lifetime of many of us. Yet, God calls for MEN, seasoned and wise MEN to be ordained to ministry. Not boys. Not males that are emotionally stunted, due to having been protected in a clerical system. Clergymen need to grow up.
It is their protection and their emotional immaturity which brought our church to where it is today, and the egregious miscarriages of justice, with priests (& bishops) being sexually active and everyone covering it up. That would have been repulsive to the Levites, most especially to John the Baptist’s father, who was an honorable man, and one w/ integrity.
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